A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

delhi ny

The frozen tundra is here

Growing up in upstate New York, I’m used to cold winters.

This week has been brutal though.

The area seems to be struggling just to get out of single digits and we’ve had wind chill announcements for a couple of days now.

The National Weather Service’s weather report today for my town says: “Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 6. Wind chill values as low as -17. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.”

Brrr!

Fun times!

Since when did this part of New York turn into Alaska?

You laugh. Think I’m kidding?

According to the Weather Channel’s app on the iPhone, as of this writing, it’s 5 degrees in my town — with a wind chill of 12-below-zero. In Anchorage, Alaska, at the same time, it’s 27 degrees (feels like 22).

Now, I realize if you get to the top of Alaska in Barrow (which, strangely enough, is a place I’d actually like to visit), it’s 12 below (feeling like 31 below). But that’s extreme, right there.

I am not in Barrow. I’m in upstate New York. And heck, we’re actually closer to central New York than actually being way upstate, such as in Watertown (0 degrees/-13 wind chill as of now).

I’ll be fair and note there are some blue skies out there. It really does look inviting.

Alas, the NWS has issued a wind chill advisory in the area until 7 p.m. tonight (though from looking forward, I wouldn’t be shocked to see this change and become even longer):

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WINDS COMBINE WITH VERY COLD TEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSED SKIN. THE WIND CHILL IS EXPECTED TO BE COLD ENOUGH TO CAUSE FROSTBITE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES OR LESS…AND COULD LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. THOSE PLANNING TO VENTURE OUTDOORS SHOULD USE COMMON SENSE AND DRESS WARMLY…MAKING SURE THAT ALL EXPOSED SKIN IS COVERED.

That is absolutely a fun thing to read. Something tells me I should brave the weather to go start my car and let it run for a few though.

Relief appears to be coming soon, though. The next two days show a high of 15 — with the chance of 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow night, though! Cold and snow.

Ugh!

Sunday boosts to mostly sunny and a whopping 22. At some point midweek, they are calling for the 30s, as well as one day in the mid 40s (though with rain), before dropping back down into the upper 20s/low 30s. That’s what winter is supposed to be.

A friend sent me this photo — from 7:30 a.m. near the Cooperstown area. Yikes!

Not 5.

Though I hope it doesn’t get too warm for too long. I’m looking to go to a geocaching event next Saturday, and it’s on a frozen pond. So that warmer weather (in the 40s, anyway) and rain can kind of go away for a little while as this event sounds like a heap of fun.

But that’s still 10 days away. I’m more worried about now.

And staying inside where it’s warm. It’s a good thing I have a job hunt to keep me inside. Because if I had to be outside on a day like this, I think I’d be miserable.

Brrrr!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Delhi, NY

This gazebo, located on Delhi’s Courthouse Square, is a somewhat iconic place for our village. The square is where many area happenings go on, including the annual Fair on the Square, which runs each Friday in Julys.

Note: This is the sixth and final in a series of stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The series ran Sunday through today. See links for the rest at the bottom of this post.

This has been quite a challenge – especially in a photography way.

The others in this challenge, it seemed, had bigger areas to explore, discover and shoot. That’s one of the reasons I made this challenge within a 15-mile radius of your home area.

When this first started, I went back and forth with Mike about his “town,” which is Waco, Texas. His “town,” you see, is a city. With the space and population he has (including a major college), there were many possibilities for him.

See Jeff, who brought us to Seattle.

We also had close-ups of places like Geneva, Switzerland and what life was like in Kuwait and England.

And then there’s me, with Delhi (pronounced Del-hy, not Del-ee, like the city in India), a small town in upstate New York.

Though the business that owns this car wash has changed over the years, I remember it best when it was owned by a local car dealership. I had a lot of work done on cars there and bought a few cars there as well. Back in the day, there used to be three dealerships in town. Now there’s one. It’s much like everything else in this area when it comes to business – it’s hard to stay above water.

Nestled in the Catskill Mountains, Delhi is a wonderful little town. It’s an outdoorsman’s paradise in some places. We have a lot of history here and during the summer, it’s quite the peaceful place.

During the other months, our population swells up with an additional 2,000 or so people when the students of the local two-year state school come back for the year.

Despite all of these outdoorsy things, it’s still sometimes hard to get creative with photography. For someone who is a city dweller, I’m sure this would be a great place. The chances to shoot nature and see something different other than a concrete jungle would likely be welcomed.

For me, the city is where I’d like to be. Maybe not a place the size of a New York City, but somewhere slightly smaller, such as Albany, our state capital.

A lot of people say their places are small – as Mike. He thought Waco was small. But when I say Delhi is small, I mean small.

As with many rural areas, Delhi – and our county in general – has quite a few old cemeteries. Many of them aren’t active anymore, but they are a source for history, local and afar. I’ve come across many cemeteries with graves of people who have fought in the Revolutionary War. There is a lot to be learned in these old cemeteries and it’s nice that most of these places are still kept up decently well.

In the 2010 Census, the village of Delhi had a population of 3,087. If you go a little bigger and make it the town of Delhi, we’re now up to a whopping 5,117.

Let’s put this into a bit more perspective.

Delaware County, which is where Delhi is located, had a total of 47,890 people, according to the 2010 Census. The county isn’t small, either, as it’s a total area of 1,468 square miles. Of that land mass, only 22 square miles are water!

We’re surrounded by rolling hills and mountains. Trees are abundant. If the Census counted cows, our population would drastically rise.

It’s a great place to be and a nice area to raise kids. The crime rate isn’t high (crimes do happen, though) and, for the most part, one can feel safe being outside at most hours of the day.

In Delhi, there isn’t much to do.

I had to leave this photo in for two reasons. First, it is one of the photos that got hurt when the back popped off my Holga. Second, it shows something this area is really known for – it’s fishing spots. Whether it is small ponds or our branch of the Delaware River, there are some great spots to fish. And with there being a lot of DEC land, there are more opportunities for other outdoors adventures.

If you’re under the age of 21, you can scratch off the local bars for hangouts, too, so it becomes even less exciting. Despite being the county seat, Delhi doesn’t have any movie theaters, malls or shopping areas.

There’s an outdoors basketball court and a few parks. There are also some softball and baseball fields; soccer fields and some nature trails.

Heck, we don’t even have a village pool anymore, though they are trying to raise funds to put one in again.

Oneonta, which is in Otsego County, is the nearest “city.” It’s not even that big with a population just shy of 14,000. There are movie theaters there and some other activities people can get involved in, but it’s a 20- to 25-minute ride.

As I said, that makes challenges like this quite difficult as you need to open up and see things slightly different.

The village became incorporated in 1821 and has been featured in some pop culture places.

One thing about this area and the mountains is that it produces a lot of excellent spring water. In some places, hoses run off the mountain and people can stop and get cold, crisp water from the source. It’s a wonderful treasure and one I try and take advantage of any chance I get.

The Courthouse Square gazebo was even featured in the Saturday Evening Post on July 7, 1951. It was the cover for that magazine for that edition.

Delhi was also the setting for the award-winning children’s book, My Side of the Mountain.

The village has a size of 3.2 square miles, none covered by water, outside of the West Branch of the Delaware River, which runs through and opens up the chance to canoe, kayak or tube down the river.

Delhi isn’t perfect by any means. Many people who graduate high school here leave for better opportunities. Much of the village is off the tax rolls, be it for government buildings, non-profit places or whatever else. It’s also a village with an older population.

Being the county seat means Delhi is home to the county office buildings, courthouse and jail. The DMV is also located in town.

Just outside the village of Delhi and in the town, there is this rock wall. It’s the Greek Wall of sorts as the walls are painted by the fraternities and sororities from the local college.

Recent years have shown a gradual push toward some better things, such as a few restaurants, a better nightlife and local events that draw the village residents together. Still, there’s not much to keep the younger generation here as jobs aren’t as plentiful and getting decent-paying employment isn’t easy to do.

That leads to houses sometimes being sold to people who turn them into student housing and now college students sometimes mix in with everyday residents and that doesn’t always end well. Town-gown relations are up-and-down, depending on the day.

Some kids are respectful and quiet after a night of partying, while others are loud and destructive. I witnessed one year (and called police right away) a couple of kids walking up the street and kicking cars, breaking mirrors and whatever else – seemingly just to be destructive.

Politics are not the greatest here, either, as can be expected in a small place such as this. The good ole boys network is still prevalent with some things and not with others. But many times it is definitely who you know. I imagine many small towns and villages are like this, but when you live in an area, you notice it much more.

Ahhh, a picnic with nature. This is something that you can do around here as there are many picnic tables in local parks. On a summer evening, you can grab some food and go sit in a park, watch the world go by and have your dinner. Delhi’s small park system has grown in recent years and there are several where one can go explore, walk and enjoy being outdoors.

Delhi is a massive part of my life and has been, even when I was away. And, with the latest happenings in my world, I’m realizing it will likely be part of my past soon enough. This area is tough to keep people, as I’ve noted. And I’ve tried and tried to stay here, but things aren’t working out and reality is, I’ll be heading elsewhere sometime.

No matter what, though, Delhi is always a part of me. I’m actually writing this on my laptop in one of the local parks – the Courthouse Square. It’s peaceful and a nice place to go and write and people watch. It’s times like this that I’ll miss when I move on. I have a feeling it would be hard for me to go to a park in a place like NYC and do what I am doing here, without being a bit worried anyway.

The photos I chose for this story aren’t necessarily the biggest or best things about Delhi or the area, but it’s some of the things I always relate with my home area. And it’s the things I’ll take with me when I move on.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your trip through Delhi!

Here are the rest of the photos from my challenge:

Delaware Academy. The local high school and home to the 2001 Class C state champion football team. I have to be honest – I hated my time at this school, for many reasons. But it doesn’t take away that it’s a major part of our town. It’s on a hill and it’s quite scenic from many different parts of the town. The clock tower is something many from this area – whether they stayed or left – will always remember. This shot is also a double-exposure as it has the image of a “welcome to Delhi” sign I had taken, too.

Fitch’s Covered Bridge (black and white) and Hamden Covered Bridge (color) are two historical structures in our area. The two are separated by about 10 miles. There’s another – the Downsville Covered Bridge – that’s about 22 miles from Delhi or so. These bridges are two of about 25 remaining historical covered bridges in New York State. As a big fan of covered bridges, I love being close to a couple as they are constantly a source of photographic inspiration.

Hamden Covered Bridge.

I’m not sure how it is in places where you live, but we have quite a few seasonal roads. Basically, they are roads that aren’t taken care of, say, from November to April. In reality, they aren’t kept up that well in the other months, either. They are rough dirt roads and places where you usually want to only go if you have a vehicle that is higher up off the ground and/or has four-wheel drive.

These blue and yellow signs dot the land all over our state, but there are many of them in Delaware County and in Delhi. These signs identify historical places, houses and lands or historical happenings. They are sources to help us connect to events or places that came before our time.

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday: The luck o’ the Irish goes beyond March 17

Bagpipers in the parade.

I’ve noticed that some towns and cities do their St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the weeks leading up on the day or in the week or so after. It’s obvious why places do it.

First, it’s probably because bands book up quickly. And, truthfully, it’s probably cheaper to get them in one of the off-weeks. In the end, it gives smaller places or other places to get some good talent and still have a fun St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

My area held its St. Patty’s Day celebration this past Saturday with a parade for the second straight year. It was a pretty decent day out (shorts and sweatshirt) and the parade drew a pretty solid crowd. It was longer and featured more acts than last year, too.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because they waited a week.

And truthfully, who cares if a town waits a week? It gives people more options.

And, it also makes for a good way to get some festive photos before or after St. Patty’s Day.

So this week’s Foto Friday is just about sharing some images from our area’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, held a week after the fact. But it was a great day, a pretty solid parade and fun couple of hours.

Make sure to check the end of this post, too, for a video of one of the bagpipe crews.

Here are some of my images from the event:

Traditional garb on those in a bagpiper group.

My mother was part of the parade as a member of the Relay For Life float.

Steve Williamson, a constable in an area town, rode his horse in the parade. He's a throwback cop. I remember when my dad died, he was telling me at the calling hours how "they used to raise hell with each other." Not many cops like this anymore.

Bagpipes on the square.

I’ll probably add more to the Flickr set, eventually, but there are about 10 in there now … if you want to see other shots from the parade!

And, as promised, here’s a video I took of the Schenectady Pipe Band performing Amazing Grace, followed by Scotland the Brave. Good stuff! (Turn the sound down, remember that pipes can be loud!)

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — even a small amount — you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted scarf. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

Take the last train from Delhi…

Bill had drawers full of letters sent to him from school kids who came to see his trains.

If you grew up in a small town in the 70s, 80s or early 90s — before technology changed a lot of what we did to how it is now — you might be able to relate to the tale I am about to tell.

This is my story of someone you grow up knowing in many different ways.

In January, a long-time and well-known member of our community, Bill Cash died. He lived an amazingly long life as he was 94 at the time of his death.

He died after a battle with cancer. And he fought. Oh did he fight. But as the time drew nearer, he was seen less and less, which for those of us who have known him for so many years, was a sad thing. He was always out and about. Whether it was doing one of many things he did, walking a neighbor’s dog or just out chatting with somebody, he was always out and about.

The trains zip around the track.

Bill’s memorial service came a few weeks after his death. The service showed what kind of person he was. The church was filled and words spoken about him were glowing.

He was quite the man, especially to the thousands of kids who came through his house over the past 20 years to see the trains. More on that in a moment.

His retirement, which was almost as long as his working years, wasn’t spent in a rocking chair on the porch. Far from it. He mowed lawns in the spring, summer and fall. He removed snow in the winter (as well as in the spring and fall — we are in upstate New York, after all). He was often seen with his red wagon, taking this or that to somewhere. Or, you could visit him in his workshop, where Bill made all sorts of wood trinkets and useful items.

Most of us in the younger generation knew him as one of the friendliest people you’d ever meet.

As the days of him dealing with his riding mower (he used an old-school non motorized mower on his own lawn, however) or snow removing equipment ended, he was often out walking a neighbor’s dog. He had to add a cane in his later years, which I heard him say a few times how much he wasn’t a fan of using it.

If you were lucky enough, each year at Christmas time, you’d get some of his scrumptious caramel popcorn balls. Mmmmm…. so good.

The backside of the tracks.

But for people who might not have lived around him or dealt with him on a regular basis, there’s something else he’ll really be remembered for.

Trains.

His basement was a toy store for fans of electric trains. Hundreds of them. Tracks all over. The basement was turned into a virtual railroad station. Homemade landscapes were all over. Matchbox cars. Buildings. Everything. Some of the buildings were ones that you could buy and put together. Some were made in his workshop out of wood. Others were created from other items — such as an old aerosol can being turned into a building.

It was a town in Bill’s basement.

And the trains would go all over. All these tracks. So many different trains. He even dug out part of the basement wall to make another set of tracks. Incredible.

For those of you who had the chance to see these trains in the glory days, I’m sure you can relate with me how amazing they were.

I had the chance to see them often as a kid. I lived across the street and one of his grandsons was one of my close friends. So we got the show often.

Walking into that basement was like a different world.

The stone steps leading into the basement was a quick excitement. When you got into the basement? Trains!

Parked trains.

Hundreds of model trains were in his basement. Big, small, historic. Almost any type of electric train you can  picture was somewhere in that basement.

The tracks were probably about four feet off the ground, however. So for little ones, it’s tough to see. No problem. Bill had small step stools — probably a dozen of them — scattered throughout the basement. You climbed up and went wide-eyed as the trains zipped all over. In and out of sight. You could climb down and go to another spot and watch them.

Some of the trains even had lights, so the darker parts of the basement were no problem!

Now, kids weren’t there to touch things. We knew it, too. But it didn’t matter. I never cared that I couldn’t touch the trains. Or the cars. Or the things in the “towns.” It was easy to watch it for a long time.

In my youth, there wasn’t all the things of today — computers, crazy video games etc. We were always looking for little things to do. This was something that could captivate attention for a long time.

And Bill never grew tired of showing these trains off.

Over the years, school classes would come and visit Bill and his trains. Elementary schools. Pre-schools. Everybody. The kids were there very often. Marching in and out of the house seeing those trains.

It’s a shame that future kids won’t have that chance.

He had drawers and drawers full of letters from classes thanking him for letting kids come see the trains, too. His impact went far beyond that basement.

Near the tracks.

The trains are starting to dwindle now as the family cleans the house. There aren’t as many left, but a few were remaining. I had the chance to get a last look and see the trains. I wanted to get some photos. Check things out one last time.

Even now, it was still amazing to see the trains. It brought back the feel of childhood. And I couldn’t help but smile knowing how many kids walked through that basement to see Bill’s trains and left as happy little tykes knowing they saw something so cool.

And to also know how much that made Bill happy is something to remember, too.

Those of us who grew up knowing Bill will definitely miss him. Those in the community who knew him for many things will miss him as well. That list goes well beyond, too. To those thousands of kids and more who only knew him for his trains. He’ll be missed there, too.

The day he died, one of his sons told me he boarded the Heaven Express. As long as there are more trains at the end, I’m sure Bill will still be smiling. That train might have been leaving at his memorial service when his other son blew a train whistle at the beginning and at the end of the service.

It was a fitting remembrance and one I’m sure made most people smile as they remembered Bill.

To see all the rest of the photos I took, check out the set on Flickr.

Here’s a quick look at some of the trains when I was there taking photos:

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Learning star trails

Star trails above Fitch's Bridge in Delhi.

I’ve wanted to learn star trails for a long time.

Some of the ones I’ve seen on Flickr are simply amazing. With this week’s theme in The HooHaa 52 being stars, I thought it was the perfect time to challenge myself and go for it.

Earlier this week when coming home from a softball game, the skies were clear, dark and amazing. So I stopped at the top of Meridale Mountain and set up the tripod, hoping to see if I could figure something out. I stayed for a while, took a few shots and realized I vastly underrated how hard star trails are.

So, back to the drawing board.

Knowing the weather going into the weekend wasn’t being looked at as perfect for star trails, I aimed for Wednesday or Thursday, which would follow another softball game.

Wednesday got washed out.

Alas, despite clouds throughout the day Thursday, things cleared up to allow me a second go at these things Thursday.

I was more prepared this time as I went and researched star trails a bit more online and had an idea of what I did wrong the first time (exposure, lens setting, exposure time etc.)

Earlier in the week, my attempt was awful. With not setting my camera to “infinity,” I got nothing but a blur. And with only going for a short amount of tiI didn’t even get any blurred star trails!

Awful!

Back to figuring things out, I guess!

After looking at many star trails photos on Flickr and reading about techniques in other places, I realized a few things:

  • I needed something in the foreground to attempt to focus on.
  • I needed to set the camera at infinity.
  • For a single exposure, I was looking at a 20- to 30-minute exposure, at least.

Enter Fitch’s Bridge.

I’m a nut when it comes to photographing covered bridges. But I’ve wanted to come up with other ways of shooting them, so this was the perfect example. Fitch’s Bridge is outside the village of Delhi, so it would be dark, for the most part. I just needed to hope against cars and houses with flood lights (which killed my final of three shots of the bridge).

This was my first attempt:

First attempt

I like this, but I wanted to get more of the bridge. My second attempt is the one at the top of this post.I like that one because of the streaking car lights coming through the bridge.

I still need to get better focus on the foreground object, I think. And I need to find a place where I think I can get a good foreground object and a solid, dark backdrop for the stars. I have a few ideas that I plan on trying out.

Too, I need to be better prepared to light up the foreground object so I can focus. A large flashlight or floodlight so my camera can see the object would be best. Maybe even setting my car up to point at the object, get everything set, turn all the lights out and then let the image go.

I’ve seen some things about taking 100 or so images of 30-second exposures and stacking them. It sounds like a cool way to do this, but I wonder how it works considering if I tried a 30-second exposure, I get nothing but darkness. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would appreciate it.

Star trails are wild, that’s for sure. It’s actually one of my Day Zero goals. But until I get an image that really wows me, I won’t check it off yet.

It’s a challenging image, that’s for sure. But I think, when done right, it’s totally worth the wait.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.